It was only a week since Kansas center Jeff Withey scored as many points against Missouri as Bill Self.

Self, being the Jayhawks coach, did not play in the Mizzou game. In a sense, neither did Withey.

“I didn’t score at all. I wasn’t a factor,” Withey said. “Coach was really angry about that. He felt I let them kind of punk me.

“The last couple of practices have been tough.”

But worth it, though.

What Self devised to invigorate Withey, his 7-foot, 235-pound junior center, appears to have worked. Withey recovered from his embarrassment in Missouri with a career-best 25-point effort Wednesday at Baylor and then an 18-point, 20-rebound, seven-block double-double-just-missed-triple showing in Saturday’s victory over Oklahoma State. Combined with star forward Thomas Robinson’s 24 points and 14 rebounds, the two KU big men nearly doubled OK State’s output.

"That was two pretty good big guys playing the first half," Self said.

“He’s a good motivator,” Withey said.

Apparently.

“I think it’s hard to beat us when they’re playing like they’ve been playing, especially Jeff,” KU guard Tyshawn Taylor said. “A lot of teams, they focus on Thomas a lot. So when Jeff’s playing well, it gives us that extra threat, somebody who can block shots, rebound and score. He’s showed he can score, too.”